This invention relates to wire wheels for vehicles. Such wheels are still in demand by many persons for reasons of appearance, and also because the suspension of the rim, via the spokes from the hubshell of the wheel provides an advantage in the ride of the vehicle. The traditional general structure of wire wheels embodies a machined hubshell which is adapted to be fastened to the wheel hub of the vehicle, either through bolts or a so caled "knock-off" hub, and a plurality of spokes which extend outwardly from the hubshell through holes in a surrounding wheel rim. The outer ends of the spokes are threaded into nipples which extend inwardly through the holes in the rim. The spikes do not extend in a truly radial direction from the hubshell, but extend outward and/or inward so that there are spokes extending from two laterally displaced circles of holes in the hubshell into two laterally displaced circles of nipples on the rim. This arrangement is necessary in order to accommodate lateral forces due to cornering and other maneuvering of the vehicle. In the use of such wheels, however, the lateral space occupied by the spokes may present somewhat of a clearance problem when the wheels are to be used on vehicles having disc brakes, since a typical prior art hubshell has an outer diameter which will interfer with the brake caliper housing.
As is well known, the disc brake includes a rotor disc which is carried by the wheel hub, and a caliper which surrounds a portion of the periphery of the disc rotor, the caliper carrying the brake pads which press against the rotor to produce the desired braking action. The housing of the caliper extends outward somewhat from the surface of the rotor, into the region generally radically outward from the end of the wheel hub, and in many installations involving disc brakes, the caliper housing presents a clearance problem with respect to a larger size hubshell and/or to the spokes of wire wheels which pass fairly close to the central plane of the wheel, that is, the plane which bisects the wheel rim circumferentially. It is desirable, therefore, to reduce the size of the hubshell and to displace the spokes with respect to the caliper by offsetting the rim sufficiently so that there is adequate clearance for the rotating spokes, but without adversely affecting the structural integrity of the hubshell and the entire wire wheel.